Brathwaite looking forward to 10 solid days of cricket and new partnership

West Indies last won a Test match on Australian soil in February 1997. They have beaten Australia in Australia in any format only once since, in a T20I in February 2013.

Not a happy destination for West Indies then, even if it’s true that West Indies have played just 14 Tests in the country since 2000, and none since 2016. But it’s still 12 losses and just two draws since the last win. It’s been so long that Shivnarine Chanderpaul was three years into his Test career then, and his 26-year-old son Tagenarine is West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite‘s likely opening partner now.

“As a team, it’s not (about) focusing on any results. Obviously, past history shows it’s a long time since getting wins in Australia and stuff, but we are focusing on our own goals and, obviously, going through the preparation, which is important for any Test match,” Brathwaite said in a press interaction on Tuesday in Canberra, where West Indies play two tour games – a three-dayer and a four-dayer – prior to the first Test, in Perth starting November 30.

“What is the big focus is that we have ten days of Test cricket, and we want to be playing good, solid ten days of Test cricket.”

It’s not always that a touring team gets to play seven days’ worth of warm-up cricket ahead of a two-Test series these days, and it’s an opportunity Brathwaite is grateful for and wants to make the most of.

“What is important is that we know the Australia team has obviously been selected; we know the bowlers we’re going to play against, we know the batsmen,” Brathwaite said. “The only thing is from now is just to create our plan, in terms of the mindset – how we want to go about playing against these guys? So we use these two games to do just that.